Brussels, 14/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to initial national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the seasonally adjusted number of persons employed in the euro area (EA12) rose by 0.3% (423 000 persons) during the fourth quarter of 2006. During the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU25 also grew by 0.3% (593 000 persons). In the third quarter of 2006, growth rates were identical. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, employment grew by 1.6% in both the euro area and the EU25 in the fourth quarter of 2006, after +1.5% in both zones in the third quarter of 2006. Over the whole year 2006, employment grew by 1.4% (1 948 000 persons) in the euro area and by 1.5% (2 988 000 persons) in the EU25, compared to +0.8% and +0.9% respectively in 2005. These are the highest recorded rises since 2001 in the eurozone (+1.5%) and the highest since 2000 in the EU25 (+1.7%). (ab)